Friday, July 13, 2012

Design Elements and Vocabulary

Permaculture design emphasizes
patterning of landscape, function, and species assemblies. It asks the
question, “Where does this element go?
How is best placed for maximum benefit in the system?”

Permaculture is made up of
techniques and strategies:

·Techniques are how we do things (one-dimensional)

·Strategies are how and when (two-dimensional)

·Design is patterning (multi-dimensional)

Permaculture is all about the
science and ethics of design patterning

Approaches to design:

-Maps:
“where is everything?”

-Analysis of
elements: “how do these things connect?”

-Sector
planning: “where do we put things?”

-Observational

-Experiential

Maps: A main tool of a designer, but “the map is never
the territory”. Be careful not to
design just from maps, no map tells the entire story that can be observed on
the ground. A sequence of maps is
valuable to see clearly where to place elements: Water, Access, Structures,
Topology etc.

The analysis
of elements: List the needs, products, and
the intrinsic characteristics of each element. Lists are made to try and link
the supply needs of elements to the production needs of others.

An
example that is easy to understand is the lists needed to link a chicken into a
system:

Experiment on paper, connecting and combining the elements (buildings,
plants, animals, etc) to achieve no pollution (excess product), and minimum
work. Try to have one element
fulfill the needs of another.

Zones: It is useful to consider the site as a series of
zones (which can be concentric rings)
that form a single pathway through the system that moves outward from the home center.
The placement of elements in each zone depends on importance, priorities, and number
of visits needed for each element. E.g. a chicken house is visited every day,
so it needs
to be close (but not necessarily next to the house). An herb garden would be
close to
the kitchen.

Principle Summary: Definition
of Permaculture design: Permaculture design is a system of
assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which
functions to benefit life in all its forms. It seeks to provide a sustainable
and secure place for living things on this earth.

Functional design: Every component of a design should function in many
ways. Every essential function should be supported by many components.

Principle
of self-regulation: The purpose of a
functional and self-regulating design is to place elements or components in
such a way that each serves the needs, and accepts the products, of other
elements.

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July APDC Course Blog

Class Authors (APDC Attendees) are encouraged to place comments, materials, insights, and discoveries on this blog. This central sharing resource will be used to pull information into designs and to share information and resources.

Please publish entries an comment as we carry the conversation deeper into the issues an solutions we discover. This is a private blog except for those you invite by giving them the URL. See you on the 29th!